Podemos Party does not accept the validation and proclamation of the election results announced by the CC

Second the president of the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique - Podemos, who supports Venâncio Mondlane’s candidacy rejected last Tuesday with the results validated and proclaimed by the CC.

Having said the following in a press conference that Mozambican society urgently needs to reflect, which could lead to an understanding of important aspects and which will substantiate the reason for the opposition. The lack of respect for the will expressed by the people at the polls is evident. Given the false education that the institutions that administer the electoral processes insist on instilling in Mozambican society, I ask myself the following questions: a) Why is it that in every election, in a cyclical and permanent manner, clear state terrorism is observed, despite the rights and freedoms of Mozambicans. Are these murders that the state commits, having the right to use force against the will of the people and their freedoms? Why are there mechanisms, strategies, including illicit, illegal and immoral acts, to keep Frelimo in power? b) Is the problem in Mozambique that cyclically leads to post-election conflicts the problem of the people or of Frelimo? Is it the problem of the structure of the state? c) Why do we appear to be one of the coun tries, if not the only one in the region, if not in Africa and the world, with successive armed conflicts, before, during and after electoral processes? Is this a problem for the people, for our opposition, or for Frelimo? d) For Mozambicans, the words “dialogue” and “peace” are constant and already part of the lexicon, and we pronounce them in all our speeches. What peace do we want? What peace do we aspire to? When do we take the path of disrespecting the will of the peo ple, the will of the people. When do we take the path of lies? e) We pray for peace/reconciliation. True prayer starts from acts of justice, honesty and respect for the will of the Mozambican people. f) Mozambique, as a democratic state governed by the rule of law, seeks justice and respect for the will of the people. Opposition as a dialectic enriches the process of dialogue and the counter-position of ideas, and naturally, Democracy, without which opposition seems impossible. g) The only true boss, the own er of power, in this beautiful country is the Mozambican people, who are the holders of power. To disrespect them is, consequently, to usurp the power of the people and install tyranny and dictatorship, as opposed to democracy that affirms the power of the people. h) Despite the words dialogue and peace that we use every day, despite knowing the underlying reasons that lead us to cyclical armed conflicts, which in turn tear lives apart and an already impoverished economy, Mozambique remains the only one in the Southern region, Africa and even the world, to validate and proclaim elections after about 60 days from the date of the vote. Why? In the same vein of reflection, I also ask myself the following questions: Based on the results announced, are we saying that the Mozambican people ignore their social contract even after 50 years of Indepen dence? a) How would one perceive, how would one justify the concepts of social justice, redistribution of goods, concepts of equity when the people, having accepted democracy, would remain in poverty, unem ployment and suffering for many years to come. b) Today, Mozambicans are deeply impoverished. They are among the 5 poorest countries in the world, according to Transparece International, with a low and miserable human development index and precarious health services. c) Frelimo must accept the will of the people as a way of respecting itself. Power belongs to the people and never to a party, re gardless of its history. d) How is it that a people, a State and a demo cratic nation, after 50 years of existence, have precarious access routes and infrastructures that are vital to development? With precarious health services? How is education precarious and lacking quality? With unemployment increasing every day. With absolute poverty de spite the country’s wealth in natural resources, water, wildlife and oceans. e) Mozambique appears to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world, with data recognized in all studies. The CC is part of the institutions representing Freli mo, and therefore political adversaries of PODEMOS and all other political forces that make up the fabric of Mozambican democracy. Electoral justice seems impractical while the justice bodies are part of the Frelimo party, with appoint ments by its representatives, in cluding the judge who read the ruling, appointed by the president of the Frelimo party. Therefore, the appeals filed by PODEMOS are nothing more and nothing less than an act to be dismissed as useless. Instead of the CC seeking justice, it focused, in its apologetic position in defense of Frelimo, on looking for defects and omissions. Having found none, it resorted to naked and blatant lies. The politicization of state institutions, such as the CC, is a major barrier to justice. We are talking, at this moment, about the electoral justice that the people are waiting for and desperately taking the path of street demonstrations as the only and last resort in the absence of justice institutions. The street demonstrations, sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent be cause they are beyond the control of any institution, are the direct result of the absence of the State, of the State of justice. For the reasons set out above, especially those pre sented through appeals challeng ing the results, at the headquarters of the District Election Commissions, the Provincial Election Com missions, the National Election Commission and, most recently, the Constitutional Council, which, due to the politicization of these in stitutions, were not duly addressed. The PODEMOS Party does not recognize or accept, in any way, the electoral results validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council. We consider the underly ing reason for their non-acceptance to be the lack of transparency, in tegrity, professionalism and ac countability of the electoral man agement and administration bodies, ultimately the Constitution al Council. i. ii. iii.The electoral truth of the elections of October 9, 2024 is intact in the ballot boxes; it expresses the will of Mozambicans in the election of the President of the Republic, Deputies of the Assembly of the Republic and Members of the Provincial Assemblies. In order to meet the electoral truth, which the CC withheld from the people, it was urgent first to recognize the maximum number of registered voters and eligible to cast their votes in each of the three ballot boxes installed in each Polling Station. Secondly, all excess votes would be removed, because they resulted from stuffing, and these were exclusively from the FRELIMO Party, which holds control over the production, security and distribution of the same/ballot papers. iv. Having said that, a real recount of the votes cast/remaining in all ballot boxes in all Polling Stations would be carried out. The result that would emerge from the recount of these remaining votes in the ballot boxes, after the with drawal of the pre-voted ballots, will be called electoral truth. The CC turned a blind eye to this truth, because Frelimo would lose the elections. The CC failed to uphold, among other principles, the principles of impartiality, justice, impartiality, transparency and responsibility in its search for the assumptions and paths that are at least convincing and conducive to the search for electoral truth (material truth). In normal states, truly governed by democratic law, forging, disclosing, validating and pro claiming false results, based on false minutes and notices, potentially constitutes a criminal case of abuse of power and active corruption, facts that are highly relevant for the opening of criminal proceedings, preceded by a forensic audit. From now on, PODEMOS, in the name of justice and the Nation, a genuine belonging of Mozambicans, and also in its concept as a serious political actor, will continue its struggle alongside this oppressed, discriminated, persecut ed, impoverished and murdered people, through political, diplomatic and judicial means, the latter us ing all possible national and international channels against the offenders. The CC turned a blind eye to this truth, because Frelimo would lose the elections. The CC failed to uphold, among other principles, the principles of impartiality, justice, impartiality, transparency and responsibility in the search for the assumptions and paths that are at least convincing and conducive to the search for electoral truth (material truth). In normal states, truly governed by democratic law, forging, disclosing, validating and proclaiming false results, based on false minutes and notices, potentially constitutes a criminal case of abuse of power and active corruption, facts that are highly relevant for the opening of a criminal proceeding, preceded by a forensic audit. From now on, PODEMOS, in the name of justice and the Homeland, a genuine belonging of Mozambicans, and still in its concept of a se rious political actor, will continue its fight alongside this oppressed, discriminated, persecuted, impoverished and murdered people, through political, diplomatic and judicial means, the latter using all possible national and international channels against the offenders. The CC turned a blind eye to this truth, because Frelimo would lose the elections. The CC failed to uphold, among other principles, the princi ples of impartiality, justice, impartiality, transparency and responsibility in the search for the assumptions and paths that are at least convincing and conducive to the search for electoral truth (material truth). In normal states, truly governed by democratic law, forging, disclosing, validating and pro claiming false results, based on false minutes and notices, potentially constitutes a criminal case of abuse of power and active corruption, facts that are highly relevant for the opening of a criminal proceeding, preceded by a forensic audit. From now on, PODEMOS, in the name of justice and the Homeland, a genuine belonging of Mozambicans, and still in its concept of a serious political actor, will continue its fight alongside this oppressed, discriminated, persecuted, impoverished and murdered people, through political, diplomatic and judicial means, the latter using all possible national and international channels against the offenders.